Yesterday, Health Canada announced their proposed new legalization framework for cannabis in Canada – full proposal is found here – and which is now launching Canada to the forefront of the global cannabis market. I’ve seen many regulatory adjustments and changes to cannabis in the last decade, but nothing quite like this. Most of us are still waking up with a “regulatory hangover” and trying to process all of the changes. As the founder and CEO of the world’s largest and most professional cannabis compliance firm, I’m writing this article to provide my insights on where cannabis is headed. Because this is a game changer. Many of us knew the changes were coming, but none of us predicted in full how far the government would take this. In short, Canada is creating a whole new framework for cannabis production and sales, which will immediately spill into these established industries: health products, food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and agriculture. Overnight, cannabis became an ingredient, not a product. Let me explain. Cannabis Farming Outdoors In the last four years, licensed producers of cannabis had to take on substantial investment (and patience) to become licensed to cultivate; they were also extremely limited in their ability to advertise and sell cannabis, being restricted to B2C sales through online sales. First mover advantage has been substantial in this space – and cultivators have had enormous valuations hardly understandable by any established industry standard. Today there are 74 licensed production facilities – and the patient base has been growing exponentially. A great time to be an LP. But this all changes with these new proposed regulations. Cannabis, like tobacco...